Kitchen Cabinet Reveal

My kitchen is a work in progress, but I finally have the biggest project complete! I started painting my kitchen cabinets back in September. I would work on them in my spare time. I don’t have enough space to take all of the cabinet doors down at once, so I divided them up into three sections. I felt that would be more feasible for me. After finishing one section, I would take a break for a couple of weeks. But the goal was to have them all finished by Thanksgiving, and I made it! I used the Rust-Oleum cabinet transformations kit to paint my cabinet. You can read more about this kit here. The kit comes in different sizes, depending on how many cabinets you have. My kit cost $75. The color I chose was called buttercup. You just choose a color, and the people at the store mix it for you just like when you are buying paint. There is enough in the kit to do two coats. We chose this kit because it advertised no stripping, no sanding, and no priming. I did not want to sand down all of those cabinets. I was a little leery about how durable the finish would be, but I am very happy with the results. I will give an update after some time passes, but trust me, this finish feels very strong and durable.

The kit comes with a deglosser,(which is what you use to skip the sanding and priming), a bond coat, which is the color), a decorative glaze which is optional, and a top coat. The process was not difficult, but it was tedious and time consuming. After I applied 2 coats of the bond coat, I realized I felt that it needed three coats. It said on the package that there was only enough in the kit for 2 coats, so I just took a can of the bond coat with me to Lowes and they mixed me up another quart of paint and color matched it. I used that quart as my third coat for all of the cabinets, just in case the color match was not perfect. As it turned out, I think I would have had just barely enough without having bought that extra quart. Oh well! I opted to glaze my cabinets, and I am so glad that I did! It made all of the difference! It brought out the natural wood grain in the cabinets, so you can tell they are solid wood. I am very happy with the results. I will warn you though that I literally did not have a drop of the decorative glaze left when I finished, and I did not glaze the inside of the cabinet doors. So be careful with the glaze because it is not plentiful. I only glazed the outsides of the doors, the base of the cabinets hanging on the wall, and the outsides of the drawers. I was really sweating it on that last batch of cabinets that I was going to run out. I thought the glaze should have been more plentiful in the kit. What if I would have opted to glaze the insides of the doors? I would have ran out. After the glaze dries, you apply the top coat, which gives it that shiny, durable feel. It is smooth as butter when it dries. I would caution you to let each step of these cabinets dry completely before you rehang them. I have a friend who used this kit and rehung them too soon, and it peeled off the paint in places where the doors and the base touch. I already knew that ahead of time, so I gave them a good 24 hours between each step to dry thoroughly.

My husband did help me with this project. He took down all of the cabinets, put the hardware for each cabinet in individual baggies, carried them down the stairs for me, deglossed the doors and drawers, and after they were finished, he installed new hardware and rehung them for me. I bought the hardware at Target. I didn’t even know Target sold hardware until I happened upon it one day. The prices are great! Way better than I have seen other places. And what I liked about them is that they came in packages 6. I chose a brushed nickel finish to match the appliances and top of the island. The original hardware on the cabinets was oak just like the cabinets. I hated them and some of them were missing. I really like these, they are simple and understated. You can find cabinet hardware at Target here. I bought mine in the store. I paid $19.99 for a pack of 6.

I also have started on painting the walls. You can see that the nook where the windows and door are is the part of the walls that I have finished so far. So enough typing words, and more of showing you the pictures! I am including some before pictures too so you will see the transformation. Some of these before pictures were taken when we were looking at the house before we closed on it, and some were taken after I first got it cleaned and the cabinets put away at 3:00 a.m. Remember, this was phase one of my kitchen progress. There is still much to be done! At the end of this post I will include a list.

Lighter and brighter! And yes, I use magnets to put things on the sides of my refrigerator. I am ghetto like that! Just keeping it real! One thing I love about this kitchen is the ceramic tile floor. Love the color, and the pattern. It literally does not show dirt!

Update 11/01/14: See this kitchen nook in it’s current state here, and here.

This is the nook that I just painted. I used behr premium plus ultra in eggshell. The color is oolong tea. I love it! It looks light during the day and much richer and darker at night. I also painted one wall in my dining room this color yesterday.

To the left is the dining room and to the right is the living room. Both rooms are disasters because I am painting in two rooms right now. You know how that goes. This island has a place that you can put down or keep out for seating. I keep it out all of the time because my 4 year old eats here a lot. I really like all of the appliances, and I like the stainless island top, but it scratches really easily. I bought a kit to take the scratches out and worked really hard on it, but I just can’t keep it scratch free.

This is the island. I did not paint it, but it matches the cabinets really well. I have plans for it. I am going to paint it a contrasting color, but haven’t chosen a color yet. Any suggestions?

Please excuse these awful rugs. They are temporary. They were fine when I bought them, but after washing them once, this is how they look. They did not wash well! I have looked and just cannot find the perfect yet affordable rugs for this room! I am planning to make cafe curtains for these windows.

This microwave came with the house. I hate that it has to sit on the counter, it takes up so much space! I would like to add a place in the nook for the microwave to sit somehow.

The baskets under the window were purchased at Pier One. I use it to hold juice pouch boxes

My stainless steel trash can got dented when we moved! I can’t get the dent out so I am going to have to replace it. The mirror was purchased many years ago. I may paint it. What do you think? The is there just because there was already a place for one on the wall. And I like having a land line in the house. The hanging pottery was bought during our wedding/honeymoon trip to Mexico. The round weather thingy is from Restoration Hardware. It is there because, well, my husband is a meteorologist!

The bamboo cutting board is from Kohl’s.

The small bottles in the little holder were purchased in Sugar Creek, OH, when we were in the Amish Country. I keep different kind of vinegar in them. In the larger bottles is olive oil, canola oil, and white vinegar.

The utensil holder is from Target. The memo board changes all of the time. I use it for appointment cards, little notes, and random pictures that I am not planning to frame but wasn’t to display for a while. If you look closely the top picture was taken when my husband went to Tokyo. It is a little Japanese girl that he just happened to witness a wedding about to happen on the street. I just love that little girl. I am sure she is no longer a little girl anymore. There is a quote hanging here by Maya Angelou that says “when people show you who they are, believe them”. I have had that hanging somewhere in my kitchen for probably 15 years. I need to frame that quote somewhere because I love it! The bottom is a postcard written to my husband from a dear friend and author Gregory McDonald who wrote the book Fletch. I need to frame it. He is deceased now, Jason also has a first edition of Fletch that he autographed and personalized for him.

And this is one of the first sweet notes Jason left for me when we first fell in love! I have had it hanging here since then! I need to do something special with it too!

This lamp was bought at a local store named Country Peddler. I have to do a feature on the store one day. I may change the lampshade. And the basket is longaberger. it holds napkins.

Jason says the Keurig is the best Christmas gift I ever gave him! The jar holds the coffee, and this is the prettiest bottle I found at Walmart for the dish washing liquid. I don’t like to reach under the cabinet every time I need it. I need to find a pretty glass bottle for it. And in the outlet is a scentsy burner. It is also a night light at night. The scents are amazing!

I love this stove! It has 5 burners! This candle is my husband’s favorite. He lights it all of the time! And my trusty teapot, I use it every single morning. Anyone have any secrets about how to get stains off of a stainless steel teapot? I usually just buy a new one every so often because I can’t keep them clean.

To the left is another Longaberger basket. These canisters I bought at the Cracker Barrel store, and I loved them at the time, but I am sick of them now. The butter dish is Fiesta Ware. I am trying to start a collection.

When we moved in there was not lighting over the sink. I immediately bought this LED light and had my husband install it. I need light! The plates are from Pier One. I love the sink and hate the faucet. The sprayer is broken and the hose is not long enough. I want a new set!

The plate above the cabinet was given to me by a foreign exchange student my family hosted when I was in high school. It is from Italy. The rooster is from Marshall’s. The bottle with Japanese writing my husband brought home from Japan. I can’t remember where I bought the tray.

The dishes above these cabinets are from various places. The green one in particular was given to my husband for something he hosted. It is very pretty in person.

I hate the way this whole area looks. I have to change it. I bought that brown serving tray and bowl, and really like it, but I can never find the right place for it. The basket on the fridge holds plastic silverware for the kids to pack in their lunches.

I like this pot rack/light, but I just can’t seem to get it styled to my satisfaction. The red basket is an antique egg basket.

The copper pan was purchased at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee. It was handmade by an artisan. There is a tiny longaberger basket hanging there.

I need to paint this door, but haven’t decided on a color yet. Anything but white!

And here are a few close up shots of the finish on the cabinets. See how you can see the wood grain after I applied the glaze?

Here is a list of what we have done already and what we need to do in this room, and what I am dreaming of doing, if budget permits eventually.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my kitchen so far! All of the hours of work on these cabinets were so totally worth it. But I don’t want to do it again for a very long time! I would love to read comments about my kitchen and any ideas you might have for me to improve it!

Comments

Your kitchen cabinets turned out beautifully! On your teapot you might try a product called "Barkeepers friend", it's recommended for cleaning stainless pots and pans, should work well on your teapot too! Home Depot, K-Mart, WalMart…Lowes, they all sell it.

Now that I've figured out how to post I'll do it more often. ;0) Thanks for inviting me in to your kitchen, I had a great time!

Nicki, I have been enjoying all your projects! We also remodeled our kitchen a year ago. We added more cabinets, wall papered, new distressed wood floor, and counter tops. It is very country with rooster and berry vine accents.Hope you will enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving break. Katrina

Thanks Phyllis! I am painting the walls now. I am not sure if I like them yet. But I have a vision so I have to see it through until the end. Hopefully I will like it when it all comes together. But that is going to be a while!

Love the new cabinet color and the whole kitchen, especially the light fixture!! Heehee…..I have the exact same fixture!! I bought it at a garage sale and love it, but it seems to big for my kitchen and the ceilings aren't real high, so hanging anything big or long is out of the question. I have red for an accent color and had a few old enamel pots with red trim and have been trying to find pieces to go along with that to hang. Mine is not all filled, but I still love it!!! Love your blog, too!!

Thank you! I am still busy at work in there. My first project was the cabinets. I then painted the walls. Sunday I painted the backsplash white to prepare for a faux subway tile treatment I want to try out. Tonight after work I painted the trim. Next up is to finish the backsplash but it is going to be a lot of work. Then I still need to paint the island and the back door. It is a work in progress!

What a lovely kitchen you have, Nicki! It would be a pleasure for any homeowner to cook and work in this lovely space! Everything is in their proper place. But what I love the most are the cabinets! The strategic placing of the cupboards makes it look like a design piece as well.

Somehow found this when I was looking for yarn display! ??? Thanks for all the great pics; love the wood grain showing through with the new modern color. Well done! My cabinets are builder grade from the 90's and could use some lovin' like you did for yours. Inspiring!

That is weird! But glad you stumbled across my page! I am glad you like the cabinets. They were a labor of love. Took lots of work but the result is worth it. I am DIY ing a backsplash in there right now. It is taking forever too, but what little is finished looks awesome!

I like those designs of your kitchen cabinets. I think the materials that they've used on those cabinets are very expensive based on the images that you've put on your blog. By the way, I want to share a site that I've found about kitchen cabinets, just click here to visit and browse all the information.